Historical Encampment
Step into our period-inspired pirate camp with equipment, displays, tools, weapons, camp life, and hands-on details that turn history into something visitors can actually walk through and explore.
Panama City Beach • Free Family Festival
Pirates of the High Seas & Renaissance Fest
October 9–11, 2026
Calling all mateys, fair maidens, and swashbucklers of every age. Three days of pirate mayhem return to Panama City Beach with parades, fireworks, mermaids, fire performances, treasure, and Renaissance revelry.
Three Days of Pirate Mayhem
Where the Gulf Goes Pirate.
Pirates of the High Seas & Renaissance Fest is one of Panama City Beach’s signature fall events, filling the Pier Park and Aaron Bessant Park area with live entertainment, pirate crews, family activities, demonstrations, and a full Renaissance marketplace.
This free celebration includes fireworks, live mermaid shows, a fire circus, parades, a treasure drop, sword and whip demonstrations, a Pirates Pub, and plenty of chances to cross paths with the Pirates of the White Sands.
Festival dates: October 9–11, 2026
What the Pirates of the White Sands Bring
Living History, Steel, Stories, and a Whole Lot of Mayhem.
High Seas is more than a place where our crew shows up in costume. We build an experience around the history, skills, camp life, and spectacle of the pirate age.
Sword Fighting
Our crew brings live steel, choreographed fighting, demonstrations, and historical interpretation together so guests can see the skill, danger, and spectacle behind close-quarters combat.
Living History & Education
We talk with guests about pirate life, weapons, equipment, history, and the realities behind the legends. The goal is to entertain people without losing the history underneath the fun.
Ship Float & Pirate Entertainment
Our ship float, characters, music, crowd interaction, photo opportunities, and organized chaos help carry the White Sands presence beyond the encampment and into the wider festival.
This is the part of High Seas that is ours: the encampment, the demonstrations, the history, the steel, the ship, and the crew bringing it all to life.
Weekend at a Glance
From Breakfast to Fireworks.
The official festival schedule has the exact times and stage lineup. Here is the big-picture rhythm of the weekend.
Friday • October 9
Raise the Colors
Breakfast with Pirates kicks off the day before the festival village opens for the evening.
Expect the Kid’s Parade, opening festivities, entertainment, and an evening Pirate Crawl.
Saturday • October 10
Full Pirate Invasion
Saturday brings a full day of performances, demonstrations, family activities, and pirate encounters.
The Krewe of Dominique Youx Main Parade rolls through before fireworks light up Panama City Beach.
Sunday • October 11
One More Day of Mayhem
Start with another Breakfast with Pirates, then head back into the festival for the final day.
It is the last chance to catch the crews, marketplace, entertainment, and Renaissance festivities before the fleet sails out.
Find Our Krewe
Pirates of the White Sands Will Be There.
Panama City Beach’s own Pirates of the White Sands return each year to help bring the festival to life through pirate interactions, photo opportunities, games, music, demonstrations, and good old-fashioned organized mayhem.
If you have been wanting to meet the crew in person, this is one of the best weekends of the year to do it.